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Lot 106
TARAFID RULERS OF ‘ATHAR, ABU ‘ALI AL-FARAJ (fl. 381-392h). Dinar, ‘Athar (39)1h. REVERSE: In field: amr bihi’l-amir | al-Faraj | al-Tarafi. WEIGHT: 2.76g. REFERENCE: Album F1070 RRR; ICV 1093. CONDITION: Very fine to good very fine and very rare. Although only the unit of the date is engraved on this coin, dinars of al-Faraj dated 381h additionally bear his kunya, ‘Abu ‘Ali (see SICA 10, 416), and so this piece can be assigned to the year 391h.
Lot 11
UNCERTAIN DYNASTY, ‘UBAYD ALLAH B. ZUHAYR (?). Gold dinar, without mint or date. OBVERSE: Crowned Sasanian bust right, within cross-hatched border; To right: ‘Ubayd... | Zuhayr. REVERSE: Sasanian fire-altar flanked by attendants, within cross-hatched border; To left barakat; to right: min Allah. WEIGHT: 1.73g. CONDITION: Severely double-struck, minor edge damage and some staining from atmospheric damage, fine and of the highest rarity, apparently unpublished and believed unique. It has long been doubted whether any gold coins of Arab-Sasanian type were ever struck. Discussing the question in the introduction to Volume 1 of Sylloge of Islamic Coins in the Ashmolean, Stephen Album was ‘led to conclude that there appears not to have been any gold coinage in the Arab-Sasanian series.’ Two purported dinars held by the British Museum are considered by Album to be crude casts made for jewellery in the nineteenth century (an opinion shared by Walker before him). Another piece, which surfaced in a Russian collection during the nineteenth century and which purports to be a gold coin of ‘Abdallah b. Khazim issued at Marw in 70h, appears to be of ancient manufacture but is of coarse style and, in Album’s view, best regarded as an ancient imitation or jewellery piece. Album did not exclude the possibility that Arab-Sasanian gold coins might have been struck, noting that the historians al-Baladhuri and Ibn Khaldun both claim that Mus‘ab b. al-Zubayr, whose silver drachms are well-known today, also issued gold dinars. But if such coins ever were struck, none are known to have survived. Album correctly points out that little Sasanian gold coinage was produced after the reign of Peroz (AD457-484), except for a few small-scale issues made for presentation purposes. It was the silver drachms which formed the backbone of the Sasanian monetary economy, and which the Muslims allowed mint-cities to continue striking. There was no economic need or precedent for an Arab-Sasanian gold coinage, and with the abolition of the Sasanian court there was now no ceremonial reason either. The Umayyad capital was established far away at Damascus, and it was the local Byzantine solidi which would provide the prototypes for the first Islamic gold coins struck there. The introduction of a standardized and reformed Islamic precious metal coinage in 77/78h made the Arab-Sasanian drachm obsolete both in design and metrology. Over the next few years production gradually ceased, so that by 84/85h silver coins of Arab-Sasanian type were only being issued on the fringes of the Islamic world where local custom and preference still made this necessary. The best-known examples are Tabaristan, where the well-known series of silver hemidrachms bearing the names of local governors lasted until circa 200h, and Sistan, where base silver drachms seem to have survived for a couple of decades longer. Less well known are the Ghuzz Turks of Syr Darya, who struck a series of distinctive silver drachms during the opening years of the 3rd century (lots 8-10). The style, fabric and calligraphy of the present dinar, however, have very little in common with the neatly-engraved Tabaristan hemidrachms, and it seems more likely that it is associated either with the local coinage of Sistan or with the silver drachms of the Ghuzz. Because of the double-striking on the obverse of this dinar, the name on the obverse is very difficult to interpret. ‘Ubayd Allah b. Zuhayr would seem to fit the Kufic script, but no individual of this name appears to be attested (although Muhammad b. Zuhayr is known from the local coinage of Sistan). Another possibility might be ‘Abdallah ibn Tahir, the governor of Khurasan who served from 215-230h; this is a less satisfactory fit with the poorly-preserved legend on the coin, but would then link it with the Ghuzz issues on which his name is also found. There are other stylistic similarities between this coin and the Ghuzz drachms, not merely in the calligraphy but in the cross-hatched pattern seen on the border of this dinar, which recalls the crown or circlet seen on the ruler’s head on the silver coins. If the weight is significant, it may also be noted that this dinar is heavier than contemporary Ghuzz silver drachms - and allowing for losses through damage would appear to maintain the 7:10 ratio between the weights of dirhams and dinars elsewhere in the Islamic world. On the other hand, the reverse legend, barakat min Allah, ‘A blessing from God,’ is found on a few rare Eastern Sistan drachms, although this would seem appropriate for any presentation issue and need not imply a Sistani origin. It is not at all surprising that the gold and silver coinage of the Ghuzz should have been different in design. Discussing the Sasanian prototypes, Album wrote, ‘The gold coinage of Khusraw I, Varahran VI and especially Khusraw II and Queen Boran is...typologically utterly different from contemporary silver coinage. I would expect the same to be true of any genuine Arab-Sasanian gold coinage, were such things to exist.’ (SICA 1, p.39). Although almost certainly struck long after the main line of Arab-Sasanian coinage came to an end, this remarkable coin now proves Album’s view entirely correct. It is of the highest importance as being the only ancient gold coin of Arab-Sasanian type known to have survived to the present day.
Lot 115
QARAKHANID, NASR B. ‘ALI (c. 383-403h). Obverse die for a dirham of Uzkand 400h. OBVERSE: Incuse legends as Kochnev 212DIMENSIONS: 35 mm diameter; 43mm long. CONDITION: Modern test-mark (confirming metal as brass or bronze), otherwise very fine and extremely rare. Surviving mediaval Islamic coin dies are excessively rare, and the high quality of the calligraphy suggests that this is an official die rather than one made by a contemporary counterfeiter.
Lot 12
ARAB-BYZANTINE, TEMP. ‘ABD AL-MALIK B. MARWAN (65-86h). Solidus, without mint or date (struck circa 72-74h). OBVERSE: No legend. Three standing figures, that in the centre taller than those on either side, as on Byzantine solidi showing Heraclius and his two sons; each crowned and holding in his right hand an orb surmounted by a globe finial (in place of the cross on the Byzantine prototype). REVERSE: In margin: bismillah la ilaha illa Allah wahdahu Muhammad rasul Allah, staff, surmounted by globe finial, fixed vertically on four steps; in field to left and right: B – I. WEIGHT: 4.40g. REFERENCES: Qatar 198, same dies; Barber Institute of Fine Arts, coin AB30, same reverse die; Artuk 5; Lavoix 26; SICA 1, 607; Walker p.18, B.2; Miles, Earliest Arab Gold Coinage type B; Bernardi 5. CONDITION: Scratches both sides (especially on the reverse), otherwise very fine to good very fine, extremely rare and historically important. Ex Baldwin’s Islamic Coin Auction 19, 25 April 2012, lot 7. THE FIRST ISLAMIC GOLD COIN TO BEAR RELIGIOUS LEGENDS WRITTEN IN ARABIC . In the former Sasanian lands, the Muslims seem at first to have allowed the mint-towns they conquered to continue striking Sasanian drachms without changing the legends or design. From the 30s/650s onwards, the coins were subtly modified to include a brief Arabic legend marking them as an Islamic issue, and during the 40s/660s we find the name of an Arab governor or caliph replacing that of the long-dead Sasanian monarch. But in other respects the design changed little for some fifty years until the great reforms of ‘Abd al-Malik b. Marwan in the late 70s. In the West, however, the situation was rather different. Syria, Jordan and Egypt had been part of the Byzantine currency system, based on gold dinars and copper folles. Unlike the Arab-Sasanian drachms, which all bear the date and mint of issue (a feature also adopted for the post-Reform Islamic silver coinage), Byzantine gold and copper is seldom dated in this way. This means that the chronology of the Arab-Byzantine coinage is less well understood, and scholars continue to disagree over some points, but there are good reasons to accept the broad scheme outlined by Tony Goodwin (Sylloge of Islamic Coins in the Ashmolean, Volume 1, p.106). On this analysis, until the late 30s/650s it appears that the local demand for coinage was met by importing Byzantine copper coins – and that this import was officially sanctioned by the Arabs. In or about 40h, it seems that these imports almost completely stopped, and local cities in Syria, Jordan and Palestine began to issue their own copies of Byzantine folles to fill this gap. From 55h or so, the first copper fulus with Arabic legends start to appear and this represents the inception of what may be termed the Arab-Byzantine coinage. Over the next fifteen or twenty years we find more and more mints beginning to produce these coins, duringwhich period we can also see a move away from local types being issued on local initiative towards ever greater standardization and central control. In or about 70h this culminates in the introduction of a new, uniform type at virtually all mints, with the Standing Caliph image on the obverse and the modified cross-on-steps on the reverse; this was to endure for another decade until it was in turn replaced by post-Reform fulus. By contrast with Arab-Byzantine copper coins, which were clearly produced in very large quantities, it seems that gold coins were never issued in significant numbers. Why was this so? One answer is that the Arab-Byzantine copper fulus were essentially a local coinage, produced on local initiative. This attitude survived the coinage reforms of ‘Abd al-Malik, and so post-Reform fulus may carry any or all of a mint-name, a date, and the name of a local governor or official – although many in fact have none of these and bear purely religious legends. This kind of variety is not found in the silver and gold coinage, which was far more tightly controlled, and indeed the degree of uniformity between coins struck thousands of miles apart is remarkable. So while the caliph was apparently content for governors to strike Arab-Byzantine copper coins to meet local demand, issuing a gold coinage would have been another matter entirely and one which would have required official approval. There are nevertheless indications that the need to replenish the supply of gold coins available within the former Byzantine provinces was being felt during these early decades. A small number of ‘de-Christianized’ Byzantine solidi have survived, all very close copies of seventh century Byzantine prototypes with the bare minimum of modification to remove overtly Christian symbols. Thus the crosses on the emperors’ crowns have been removed, and the cross-on-steps is transformed into a T-shape with the top arm removed, but in other respects the designs and legends are unaltered. There are good reasons to regard these as local issues: Bernardi lists only some fifteen specimens extant (which is less than half the number of ‘year 77’ dinars known today) but these nevertheless copy four different prototypes. This lack of standardization seems to fit better with the idea of a local governor recognizing the shortage of gold coins and so striking solidi which were sufficiently Islamic to be acceptable to the caliph while otherwise attracting as little attention as possible. The coin offered here is a very different proposition from these earlier copies, and is surely to be regarded as part of the first stage of ‘Abd al-Malik’s series of reforms which ultimately led to the adoption of a uniform silver and gold coinage throughout the Islamic world. The obverse is still a close copy of a Byzantine solidus, but it is noteworthy that a type without legend should have been chosen meaning that there is no Latin to be seen. The choice of three standing figures also forms a clear visual contrast with the single figure of the Standing Caliph which featured on virtually all fulus then being struck. The reverse, however, with its Islamic marginal legend written in Arabic around a modified cross-on-steps, is a much bolder statement, unequivocally announcing that the coin has been struck to circulate in a province which is part of an Islamic empire. The coin is still recognisable as the successor to the old Byzantine solidi, but the legends are no longer intended to be familiar to Greek or Latin speakers. Anyone who wished to read the coin had to learn Arabic – which ‘Abd al-Malik had adopted as the official language of the new empire. The coin is undated – the ‘B –I’ on the reverse is a Byzantine indictional year copied from the prototype along with the rest of the reverse design, and no longer represents a meaningful date. But it is generally thought that these first attempts at a gold coinage with Arabic legends were issued between 72-74h, after which dated Standing Caliph gold dinars are known for the years 74-77h, followed in turn by post-Reform dinars issued from 77h onwards. They are best understood as the gold counterpart to an experimental series of Arab-Sasanian type silver drachms which do bear both mints and dates; these are unambiguous in stating that they were issued at Damascus from 72-74h, and it seems difficult to imagine that these gold coins could have been produced elsewhere. Like these silver drachms, it seems that they were never produced in large quantities, and their great rarity today may be explained by the actions of ‘Abd al-Malik b. Marwan after the introduction of his new, purely epigraphic dinars in 77h: ‘The Caliph issued a command that…all of the formerly-used Byzantine and Arab-Byzantine pieces were to be recalled to the mint for restriking. All those who ignored this order were to be punished by death.’ (from The Coinage of Islam: Collection of William Kazan, Beirut, 1983, p.22).
Lot 120
ILKHANID, HULAGU (654-663h). Dinar, Madinat Baghdad 656h. REVERSE: In field: qaan | al-‘azam | Munaka qaan | Hulagu | khan. WEIGHT: 6.99g. REFERENCE: Diler 7 (date not listed). CONDITION: Flan bent, some edge splits, very fine overall and extremely rare. This is an example of the first Mongol gold coinage from Baghdad, struck in the year the city was captured and the last Abbasid caliph executed. In the circumstances it is unsurprising that both this coin and the following lot name Mongol rulers only. For an Abbasid dinar struck in Baghdad during this year, see lot 65.
Lot 124
SALGHURID, ABISH BINT SA’D (662-685h). Dinar, Dar al-Mulk Shiraz 673h . OBVERSE: In field: ornament | la ilaha illa Allah | Muhammad | rasul Allah sala Allah | ‘alayhi Abish bint | Sa‘d. REVERSE: In margin: Duriba hadha al-dinar bi-Dar al-Mulk Shiraz hamahu Allah ta‘ala sanat thalath wa saba‘in wa sitt mi‘at. REVERSE: In field: Qaan | Padshah ‘alam | al-‘azam | Abaqa khallada Allah | mulkahu. WEIGHT: 11.35g. REFERENCES: cf Diler p.275, 115; cf Sotheby’s, 5 October 1989, lot 506, same rev. die; cf BMC IX, 688f [676h?]. CONDITION: Some marginal weakness but good very fine, very rare. Although Diler does not mention it, the extra phrase hamahu Allah ta‘ala in the reverse margin of this remarkable type is clearly visible in the Sotheby’s catalogue illustration and is fully transcribed by Lane Poole in BMC. It is unfortunate that the unit of the date is not clearer on the illustration of the British Museum specimen, as this coin appears to share an obverse die with the Sotheby’s coin, and it is possible that both coins are in fact dated 673h. The exceptional weight of this coin, a feature it shares with the BMC and Sotheby’s examples, may support the view that this additional phrase marks it out as being a special issue; a survey of more than 20 other Salghurid dinars of Abish offered in commerce in recent years suggests that regular dinars were generally struck weighing between 3g and 7.5g.
Lot 15
UMAYYAD, TEMP. ‘ABD AL-MALIK B. MARWAN (65-86h). Dirham, without mint-name, 79h. WEIGHT: 2.41g. REFERENCE: Klat 1, same dies. CONDITION: Evenly clipped, about very fine and extremely rare. Although reformed gold dinars had been struck at Damascus since 77h, it appears that production of the related silver coinage did not begin until two years later. The westernmost of the early dirham mints, Damascus had no tradition of striking silver coinage, and so the obvious prototype for the first post-Reform dirhams will have been the associated mintless dinars then being struck there, rather than Arab-Sasanian types which almost always include both mint and date. This may explain why the very first of the new silver coins from Damascus - including the present coin - omit the mint-name, just as the gold dinars do. The inconsistency of having mintless dirhams struck at Damascus alone must soon have become apparent, and the mint-name was quickly incorporated on all other silver struck there from 79h until the fall of the dynasty in 132h.
Lot 22
UMAYYAD, TEMP. SULAYMAN (96-99h). Dirham, Sarakhs 98h. OBVERSE: In margin: pellet below sanat in mint/date formula. WEIGHT: 2.88g. REFERENCE: Klat 458. CONDITION: Very fine to good very fine and extremely rare. Ex Baldwin’s Islamic Coin Auction 21, 17 June 2012, lot 98. Klat records a single example of this mint and date.
Lot 256
Fatimid, al-Mu‘izz (341-365h), half-dirham, without mint-or date, legends as Nicol type H2 (but apparently lacking the outermost obverse margin), 1.37g (cf Nicol 434), obverse flan faults, very fine to good very fine and very rare. Nicol records a dirham of al-Mansuriya 342h with identical legends to this piece except for the addition of a third, outermost margin on the obverse which contains the mint and date. As far as can be seen, there are no traces of this extra legend on the present coin, which thus appears to be unpublished.
Lot 31
ABBASID, AL-MUTAWAKKIL (232-247h). Dinar, San‘a 233h. OBVERSE: In field: la ilaha illa | Allah wahdahu | la sharik lahu | Ja‘far. REVERSE: In field: lillah | Muhammad | rasul | Allah | al-Mutawakkil ‘ala-’llah. WEIGHT: 3.10g. REFERENCES: Bernardi 156El (date not listed); Bikhazi -. CONDITION: Clipped, but mint and date still complete, otherwise good very fine and apparently unpublished. Ja‘far b. Dinar, whose name appears on the obverse of this unpublished coin, was originally appointed to govern Yemen in 224h, but it seems that he never actually went there at this time, sending a deputy in his stead. Deposed in 225h in favour of Itakh al-Turki, Ja‘far was eventually reinstated by al-Wathiq in 231h with orders to suppress a local rebellion. Bikhazi relates that ‘Ja‘far affixed his name to the coinage of his second tenure. But otherwise, the coins were a matter of indifference to him. His mint-master (one Ibn al-Hubab) was given a free hand at the mint. Ja‘far himself never troubled to supervise the workings at the mint, with the result that the value of the dinars depreciated markedly and the mint-master made a fortune by taking for himself the surplus of gold...Ja‘far, however, maintained his indifference until the increasingly vociferous public complaints forced him to remove Ibn al-Hubab from the mint.’ (Bikhazi, p.31).
Lot 32
ABBASID, AL-MUSTA‘IN (248-251h). Dinar, Arminiya 248h. REVERSE: In field: lillah | Muhammad | rasul | Allah | al-Musta‘in billah. WEIGHT: 4.16g. REFERENCES: Bernardi – [cf type 160, for which this mint is not recorded]; cf Vardanyan 92 [a dirham of this date]. CONDITION: Double-struck on obverse, otherwise good very fine and excessively rare . Writing in 2011, Vardanyan knew of only three dates for Abbasid dinars of Arminiya issued before 277h. The present coin adds a fourth– 248h- a year previously attested for silver dirhams but not for Abbasid gold.
Lot 35
ABBASID, AL-MU‘TAMID (256-279h). Dinar, al-Ahwaz 274h. OBVERSE: In field: la ilaha illa | Allah wahdahu | la sharik lahu | al-nasir li-din Allah | al-Muwaffaq billah. REVERSE: In field: lillah | Muhammad | rasul | Allah | al-Mu ‘tamid ‘ala’-llah | Ahmad bin al-Muwaffaq billah | letter teh. WEIGHT: 4.35. REFERENCE: Bernardi 184Nd. CONDITION: Good very fine and very rare. In the reverse field, the names of the caliph and Ahmad b. al-Muwaffaq are marked with diacritical points on three letters: two dots above the ‘t’ of Mu‘tamid, a single dot below the the b of bin, and a single dot slightly to the right of the f of Muwaffaq. The isolated letter below, which Bernardi read as b, also carries two dots above the ‘tooth’ and so must be teh. It is extremely rare to find diacritical points on coin legends at this period.
Lot 4
ARAB-SASANIAN, AL-HAJJAJ B. YUSUF. Drachm, al-Mada’in 76h. OBVERSE: Sasanian bust to right, before which: al-Hajjaj ibn | Yusuf (in Arabic) in two lines; in four quadrants of border: bism | Allah || la i- | laha i- | la A- || llah wa- | hdahu | Muhammad || rasu- | l A- | llah arranged radially and divided by stars-in-crescents. REVERSE: Sasanian fire-altar flanked by attendants, star to right of flames and crescent to left. To right: duriba bi’l-Mada’in. To left: sitt wa saba‘in. WEIGHT: 4.16g. REFERENCE: Malek National Library and Museum, Tehran, accession no. 4000.06.00002 CONDITION: Extremely fine and excessively rare. Al-Hajjaj b. Yusuf was born in the city of Ta’if, in the Hijaz, circa 40h. His background was fairly undistinguished, although his mother had been married to a governor of Kufa, and he only came to prominence in his mid-20s when he left his home town for Damascus. There he joined the security forces of the new caliph, ‘Abd al-Malik b. Marwan, and soon attracted attention for his leadership in quelling a mutiny. A series of rapid promotions followed, culminating in al-Hajjaj being chosen to lead the campaign against ‘Abdallah b. al-Zubayr in 72h. Acting with characteristic ruthlessness and efficiency, al-Hajjaj besieged Ibn al-Zubayr in Makka, bombarding the city with catapults during a siege of seven months. Ibn al-Zubayr was finally killed in 73h, and ‘Abd al-Malik rewarded al-Hajjaj with the governorships of the Hijaz, Yemen, and al-Yamama, which not only gave him the opportunity to ensure that the region was pacified but also allowed him to make undertake various alterations and restoration work in Makka itself. In 74h, ‘Abd al-Malik combined the governorships of Basra and Kufa to make al-Hajjaj Governor of Iraq, a position he held until his death in 96h. This meant that al-Hajjaj was in charge of the various lands in the East which had been conquered by Basran and Kufan troops, stretching from Mesopotamia as far as the Indian subcontinent. The present coin is an extremely rare example of one of the first Arab-Sasanian drachms al-Hajjaj issued. In its legends and design it immediately stands out as being innovative and distinctive, with the the radial arrangement of the long shahada in the obverse margin a clear departure from previous types. But it is the language used for the legends themselves which is perhaps the greatest innovation, because not only the governor’s name on the obverse but the mint and date on the reverse are all written in Arabic rather than Pahlawi. The coin’s design is still obviously Sasanian, with no attempt to modify the bust on the obverse or the fire-altar and attendands on the reverse, but it is a purely Islamic issue in its legends and the information it conveys. Surprisingly, these Arabic-only drachms were only issued at two mints: al-Mada’in and Jayy, and are known only for the year 76h. Although al-Hajjaj continued to strike Arab-Sasanian drachms at a number of mints in Fars, coins struck from 77h onwards reverted to using Pahlawi for the mint and date (although almost all still bore his name in Arabic), accompanied by progressively shorter marginal legends which were more conventionally arranged. This strongly suggests that the present coin represents an experimental type, conceived as part of the wider set of coinage reforms then being undertaken by the caliph, rather than another step in a gradual sequence of incremental changes made by provincial governors. Its predecessors, on this analysis, would be ‘Abd al-Malik’s Damascus drachms issued between 72h-75h, which also have fully Arabic legends (as appropriate for Damascus, where there was no tradition of Pahlawi coinage). Al-Mada’in, meaning ‘the two cities’, is an extremely rare Islamic mint-name and refers to the Sasanian city complex at Ctesiphon. It is recorded that in 76h, the year in which this coin was struck , al-Hajjaj suppressed a rebellion by the governor of al-Mada’in, al-Mutarrif b. al-Mughira b. Shu‘ba, who had joined forces with the Kharijites against whom al-Hajjaj was then campaigning.
Lot 40
ABBASID, AL-MU‘TAMID (256-279h). Donative dinar with broad margins, Surra man ra’a 271h. OBVERSE: In field: la ilaha illa | Allah wahdahu | la sharik lahu | al-Mufawwad ala-’llah. REVERSE: In field: lillah | Muhammad | rasul | Allah | al-Mu‘tamid ‘ala-’llah | Dhu’l-Wizaratayn. WEIGHT: 4.15g. REFERENCE: cf Bernardi 176Jc for a standard dinar of this mint and date. CONDITION: Extremely fine and of the highest rarity, apparently unpublished. Neither Ilisch nor Bernardi records any donative gold for the reign of al-Mu‘tamid. This coin may have been issued in the aftermath of the final victory over the Zanj.
Lot 49
ABBASID, AL-MU‘TADID (279-289h). Dinar, Surra man ra’a 279h. OBVERSE: In field: la ilaha illa | Allah wahdahu | la sharik lahu . REVERSE: In field: lillah | Muhammad | rasul | Allah | al-Mu‘tadid billah. WEIGHT: 4.11g. REFERENCES: Bernardi -; cf Baldwin’s Islamic Coin Auction 19, 25 April 2012, lot 62. CONDITION: Good very fine and extremely rare, apparently the second known example
Lot 58
ABBASID, AL-MUQTADIR (295-320h). Donative dinar with broad margins, Madinat al-Salam 305h. REVERSE: In field: letter ha below. WEIGHT: 4.37g. REFERENCE: cf Ilisch DI 19 [306h]. CONDITION: Small patches of die-rust in outer border, otherwise good extremely fine and extremely rare. This beautiful coin appears to be the first published gold donative dinar of this mint and date.
Lot 65
ABBASID, AL-MUSTA‘SIM (640-656h). Dinar, Madinat al-Salam 656h. WEIGHT: 8.37g. REFERENCES: Treasures of Islam 437; Miles, RIC 219. CONDITION: On a slightly ragged flan, some weak striking but almost extremely fine for issue with unit and decade of date extremely clear, excessively rare. THE LAST ABBASID DINAR STRUCK IN BAGHDAD. Al-Musta‘sim became caliph in 640h and proved to be an ineffectual and weak ruler, surrounded by advisers who also disagreed among themselves. Unfortunately for the Islamic world, he was particularly ill-qualified to deal with perhaps the greatest threat the Abbasid caliphate had ever faced: the arrival of the Mongols under Hulagu. Mongol raiding parties had reached parts of Iraq during the early decades of the 7/13th century, on occasion possibly penetrating as far as Baghdad itself. It seems that the caliphs had begun sending annual tribute to the Mongol Great Khan under al-Mustansir (623-640h), but there were still at least occasional Abbasid victories over Mongol raids and early in his reign al-Musta‘sim had felt able to refuse an order from the short-lived Mongol ruler Güyük Khan to leave Baghdad and submit to him personally in Karakorum. But in 655h Möngke, the Great Khan, resolved to establish firm control over several Islamic states, including the Caliphate, and dispatched his brother Hulagu at the head of a huge army to carry out this plan. Although Möngke had no specific plans to overthrow the caliph, he ordered Hulagu to destroy Baghdad and kill al-Musta‘sim if the latter failed to meet his demands: these being personal submission to Hulagu, and agreeing to supply a detachment of troops to fight in the Mongol army. Hulagu left Hamadhan for Baghdad on 10 Ramadan 655h. The city was particularly ill-prepared to resist him, having suffered a major flood during the previous year causing unrest which had proved beyond beyond the caliph’s authority to quell. Nevertheless, on receiving Möngke’s message demanding his surrender, al-Musta‘sim not only refused but did so in a manner which so infuriated Hulagu that he broke off any further negotiations. Even worse, al-Musta‘sim seems to have made little effort to strengthen the city’s defences, nor did he seek aid from the other major Muslim states. He may have believed that they would rush to defend the home of the caliphate without being asked, but it is also possible that his authority was now so weak that they would not have obeyed him in any event. To complicate matters further the caliph’s wazir, Ibn Alqami, certainly downplayed the Mongol threat when advising his master. Whether this was through incompetence, treachery, or both is difficult to say, although Ibn Alqami managed to become governor of Baghdad after al-Musta‘sim’s death. A Shi‘ite, he was rumoured to have colluded with the famous scientist and philosopher al-Tusi, also a Shi‘ite, whom Hulagu had taken prisoner the previous year when he subdued the Isma‘ili fortress of Alamut. Al-Tusi was entrusted with conducting some of the negotiations between Hulagu and al-Musta‘sim, and when these failed gave his Mongol master advice on the most astrologically propitious timing of the final assault. By the last days of 655h Hulagu’s vast army was beginning to encircle Baghdad. Finally showing a degree of initiative, al-Musta‘sim sent out a force of 20,000 cavalry but was comprehensively defeated, with Mongol engineers cutting off their escape by flooding the countryside behind them. A little over two weeks later the siege of Baghdad began on 14 Muharram 656h, with the Mongols using a variety of siege-engines against the city walls. A week later they had already made significant inroads against the city’s defences. Far too late, al-Musta‘sim tried to negotiate. Hulagu refused, and five days later the city surrendered. A week of looting and destruction, described in lurid detail by our historical sources, began on the final day of Muharram. Conservative modern estimates suggest that 100,000 people may have died in the destruction; others place the figure much higher. It was said at the time that the Tigris ran black with the ink from the books thrown into the river, and red from the blood of the slain. Al-Musta‘sim himself was captured alive, and forced to watch the destruction of his city before finally being executed on 14 Safar of that year. One well-known version relates that the caliph was killed rolled in a carpet and trampled to death by horsemen, allegedly because the Mongols considered it a mark of respect to kill a captive without spilling their blood. Another, reported by Marco Polo, claims that the Mongols locked the caliph in a room with the gold he might have used to buy his city’s safety, and left him to die of hunger and thirst. More intriguing, and less well known, is a version which once again features the philosopher al-Tusi. Hulagu, it is said, was excessively superstitious, and had heard from another astrologer that great disasters would come to pass if the Abbasid caliph was killed. Al-Tusi dismissed this as nonsense, and suggested that the caliph be wrapped in a carpet and rolled around the floor until he eventually died. This, he explained, would allow Hulagu to call off the execution if any dread portents should appear. Apparently satisfied by this unconventional piece of experimental philosophy, Hulagu agreed – and the unfortunate al-Musta‘sim duly met his end in this way. Discussing this extremely rare issue in RIC, Miles wrote: ‘I am aware of only one other specimen of this last of ‘Abbasid coins. It must have been struck in the first six weeks of the year, for al-Musta‘sim was put to death and the ‘Abbasid empire brought to an end by the Mongol Hulagu on the 14thof Safar, 656.’ Given the circumstances in Baghdad at the time, however, it seems most unlikely that the mint could have been active during the first two weeks of Safar, and these extremely rare dinars were probably struck during the four weeks of Muharram while the Mongols were camped around the city walls. The present coin is thus an extremely rare survivor of these events, escaping the destruction which befell so much else in the ruin of Baghdad.
Lot 81
ANTI-FATIMID REBEL, ABU YAZID MAKHLAD AL-NUKKARI (332-336h). Dinar, al-Qayrawan 333h. OBVERSE: In field: rabbuna Allah | la hukm illa lillah | la ilaha illa Allah | wahdahu la sharik lahu | al-haqq al-mubin. REVERSE: In margin: Qur’an vii, 157 (outer); ix, 33 (inner); In field: al- ‘izza lillah | Muhammad | rasul | Allah | khatam al-nabiyyin. WEIGHT: 4.17g. REFERENCE: Nicol 201. CONDITION: Good very fine and extremely rare. Of Berber ancestry, Abu Yazid Makhlad was born circa 270h and grew up in Tuzir (Byzantine Tusuros) in south-west Tunisia. He later moved to Tahirt, the capital of the local Rustamid dynasty and spiritual centre of the Ibadi movement which Abu Yazid espoused, becoming a leader of the Nukkari sect. The Rustamids were overthrown by the Fatimid partisan Abu ‘Abdallah al-Shi‘i in 296h, who passed through Tahirt on his way to meet the Fatimid imam, al-Mahdi. Abu Yazid’s antipathy towards the Fatimids was therefore based on personal experience as well as doctrinal disagreement. Returning to Tuzir after the fall of the Rustamids, it seems that AbuYazid was soon engaged in fomenting anti-Fatimid feeling. Falling foul of the authorities there, he was outlawed and left Tuzir circa 309h, intending to undertake the hajj. Finding himself pursued, however, he abandoned this plan for the time being and returned to the town of Tiqyus, where we hear of him again stirring up anti-Fatimid feeling in 316h. By 322h, when the Fatimid al-Mahdi died, Abu Yazid was leading a confederation of local tribes and attempting to form a broad coalition to oppose Fatimid rule. He even made overtures to the Umayyads of Spain, although ‘Abd al-Rahman III seems to have received them coolly. Then, having finally completed the hajj in 324-325h he returned to his home town of Tuzir but was recognised and thrown into prison. Released through the intervention of his sons, as well as a prominent Nukkari leader, he once again mobilized local tribes and launched a final assault on the Fatimids beginning in 332h. At an early stage of this campaign someone brought him a grey donkey to ride, and the image of this old man, simply dressed and riding a donkey rather than a warhorse into battle, had a powerful effect in convincing his supporters of his piety and determination – and by extensionof the justness of his cause. The first town to fall to Abu Yazid was Tebessa, followed quickly by Sabiba, Tebessa, and Duqqa. Next Baja, which resisted, was sacked and burned with the inhabitants killed or enslaved. Tunis, which surrendered and was spared the flames, was taken shortly afterwards. Raqqada, located just a few miles from Qayrawan, was abandoned by the fleeing Fatimid forces who allowed Abu Yazid to take the city largely unopposed. Qayrawan itself was the next city to fall – its governor, we are told, found himself hopelessly outnumbered and so went to Abu Yazid’s camp in a doomed attempt to negotiate, only to be captured and put to death. As the present coin recalls, the local commander surrendered the city shortly afterwards and Abu Yazid’s forces entered Qayrawan in triumph. Abu Yazid allowed his Berber troops to pillage the captured city, and when reproached by other leading citizens of Qayrawan who were trying to negotiate to save it from further damage, he reportedly dismissed their protests, remarking that even Jerusalem and Makka had been destroyed in the past. The future of the Fatimid caliphate hung in the balance as Abu Yazid marched onwards to Mahdiya and began to lay siege to it in 334h, with the caliph al-Qa’im himself inside. But the besieged city held out, and gradually Abu Yazid’s support began to dwindle as fighters who had joined him in the hope of easy plunder started to desert at the prospect of a protracted siege. Finally, al-Qa’im was able to break out and launch an assault on the rebel’s waning forces. Abu Yazid fled, leaving al-Qa’im able to recapture Tunis and Sousse. Al-Qa’im died during the siege, and the fight against Abu Yazid was immediately and vigorously continued by his successor, Isma‘il al-Mansur. Abu Yazid withdrew to Qayrawan, where the populace had initially given him a cautious welcome as their deliverer from Fatimid rule, but were now disillusioned by the brutality of his Berber troops. On his arrival, Abu Yazid found the city gates closed against him and was forced to withdraw. Later in 335h, al-Mansur granted a general amnesty to the city, capturing Abu Yazid’s wives and children whom he found there. After a series of further defeats, Abu Yazid and his remaining followers were driven into the Hodna mountains. There they made their last stand, until the Fatimid forces captured the hilltop fortress where Abu Yazid had taken refuge. It seems that the rebel himself had nearly managed to escape in the darkness, only to fall into a ravine while trying to flee. He was captured and died of his wounds four days later, probably in Muharram of 336h.
Lot 97
FATIMID, AL-MUSTANSIR (427-487h). Dinar, Madinat Rasul Allah 450h, month of Dhu’l-Hijja. OBVERSE: In margin: Bismillah al-rahman al-rahim duriba hadha al-dinar bi-Madinat Rasul Allah min Dhu’l-Hijja sanat khamsin wa arba‘ mi’at; In field: al-Imam | Ma‘add Abu Tamim | al-Mustansir billah | Amir al-mu’minin. REVERSE: In margin: Muhammad rasul Allah arsulahu bi’l-huda…al-mushrikun (Qur’an ix:33); In field: ‘Ali | la ilaha illa Allah | wahdahu la sharik lahu | Muhammad rasul Allah | wali Allah. WEIGHT: 3.28g. CONDITION: Good very fine and of the highest rarity, apparently unique. Ex Baldwin’s Islamic Coin Auction 19, 25 April 2012, lot 106 (where illustrated on front cover). THE SECOND RECORDED FATIMID DINAR FROM ‘THE CITY OF GOD’S MESSENGER’. ‘Madinat Rasul Allah’ is perhaps the rarest mint in the entire Fatimid series, known only from the present coin and a second specimen, dated 453h, now in the British Museum. It is also one of the most remarkable, because it clearly refers to one of Islam’s holiest places: apparently Madina al-Munawara itself. It has been suggested that the epithet might also refer to Mecca, but Makka appears as a mint-name in its own right on a number of Fatimid dinars which suggests that ‘Madinat Rasul Allah’ should denote a different location. It is noteworthy that Miles (Fatimid Coins: ANS NNM 121, 1951) states ‘Madinat Rasul Allah (=Medina)’, without qualification or any mention of alternative suggestions. But how and why could a Fatimid dinar should have been struck at Madina al-Munawara in this year? We do not know for certain, but it seems likely that the answer is to be found in the activities of ‘Ali b. Muhammad al-Sulayhi, founder of the Sulayhid dynasty in Yemen. Born a Sunni, he became an Isma‘ili convert after meeting Amir al-Zawahi, the Chief Da‘i of Yemen, and it seems that by the late 420s al-Sulayhi was already serving as the amir al-hajj, protecting pilgrims travelling through Yemen en route for Makka. Having succeeded Amir al-Zawahi as Chief Da‘i on the latter’s death, al-Sulayhi summoned his followers to the mountain of Jabal Masar in 439h and announced his intention to establish a Shi‘ite state in Yemen. Unsurprisingly, the Fatimid caliph al-Mustansir gave his endorsement to the new movement, and al-Sulayhi embarked on a series of campaigns against other local Islamic states including a lengthy conflict with the Najjahids of Zabid. The Najjahid ruler was killed in 452h, and soon afterwards al-Mustansir formally appointed al-Sulayhi as his recognized vassal in the Yemen. By 454h the whole of the country was in his hands – including Makka, which al-Sulayhi visited personally when undertaking the hajj in that year. Al-Sulayhi is known to have struck purely Fatimid coins elsewhere in the Yemen. Nicol records specimens struck at Zabid in 445h, 447h and 448h, which are of particular relevance here because it appears that Zabid was not in fact in Sulayhid hands when these coins were issued. Our written sources indicate that this city finally fell to al-Sulayhi in either 451 or 452h, and this is supported by the existence of dinars of Zabid 451h which carry specifically Sulayhid legends (Nicol 1741). Presumably, therefore, the Fatimid coins issued in the 440s bearing the mint-name ‘Zabid’ were produced by the Sulayhids or other Fatimid partisans in the region, promoting the cause not only financially but through the pro-Fatimid legends they bore. It seems likely that the two ‘Madinat Rasul Allah’ dinars were issued in similar circumstances and for similar reasons. When they were struck, al-Sulayhi did not yet control the Holy Places directly, and as with the Zabid issues from the 440s their legends are purely Fatimid – although the positioning of ‘Ali at the top of the reverse field may have been an indirect reference to ‘Ali b. al-Sulayhi as the issuing authority. We also know that al-Sulayhi won a great victory over the Najjahids in the year 450h at the battle of al-Zara’ib, which effectively ended Najjahid power. Given the precedent of the Zabid dinars struck just a few years earlier, it seems entirely plausible that Fatimid or Sulayhid partisans should have issued coins anticipating Makka and Madina al-Munawara coming under Sulayhid control. We know that the local nobility of Makka had given its allegiance to the Fatimids by 454/455h, by which time al-Mustansir was named in the khutba there. But this coin raises the tantalising possibility that this may first have happened a few years earlier, in which case 450h may have been the year in which al-Mustansir was acknowledged in the khutba not only in Cairo, but also in Baghdad (see the following lot), and perhaps even in Makka and Madina.
Lot 563
The Armed Forces: Collection of mostly modern covers in 16 volumes including material relating largely to the Air Force and Navy, mostly UK but including some odds from other countries including France and Netherlands, areas of interest include items relating to 50th Anniversary of VE Day and other WW2 including some coin covers, one volume devoted to GB 1986 RAF issue incl several BFPO special h/s and Biggin Hill (village) cds, 1982 Maritime Heritage set with Bristol slogan (on 15½p, others cds), almost all fine (300+)
Lot 193
Persian silver tray, elaborate chased floral and scrolling decoration with central floral motif, length approx. 30.9cm, weight approx. 11.4ozt, together with a small Persian milk jug, round balluster body with chased floral decoration, central decorative panel embossed with dancers, musicians, peacocks, deers etc, scrolling handle in the form of a peacock, weight approx. 6.1ozt, height approx. 10cm, also a silver spill vase chased with elaborate floral decoration, weight approx. 5.6ozt, and a small bowl inset with Iranian coin, weight approx. 2.8ozt, width approx. 8.5cm. Condition Report: Overall good, no significant denting to any pieces, scratches, wear and some discolouration consistant with age and use, no signs of repair.
Lot 5300
Coins, GB, Empire, Commonwealth and World: Victoria, silver, 1896 crown; Victoria, silver shillings, 1887, 1888, (2); George IV, silver, 1826 shilling, another (2); silver 3d, William IV (2), Victoria (4), Edward VII, George V (14); Canada, Victoria, silver, 1892 5 cents, holed; South Africa, silver, 1895 2 1/2 shillings and 1895 1 shilling (2); USA, 1864 2 cents and 1896 1 cent; other base metal; Morocco, Mohammed IV (1859 - 1873), 3 falus coin; three silver fobs, various, 11g; William and Mary penny, heavily rubbed; George III cartwheel pennies (3); earlier George II and George III base metal coinage, rubbed; 1784 Netherlands; 1789 Utrecht; Elizabeth II commemorative crowns and five pound pieces, various; etc
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